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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

Hi! No, as far as I know, bread is a bad idea...also, "sweet" stuff for a bunny is a banana, or apple or carrot, and you should only feed them those kinds of things in verrrrry small amounts or else they will get sick! And also, definitely no "sweet" stuff when they are younger than 6 months

BBSan Francisco Area

Forum Leader

8690 posts

4/09/2007 6:59 PM

MooBunnay is absolutely right. Bunnies should not have bread.

When they are older, sweet stuff like carrots, apples etc should be given sparingly.

The House Rabbit Society has a great information about diet requirements:

Once you're there, you can scroll down to see at what age you should feed what kinds of foods.

dmh426Syracuse, New York

435 posts

4/10/2007 2:10 PM

Bread is very bad. For something "sweet", I give Sophie banana, an apple slice, or a teeny tiny bit of jelly off the tip of my finger. I always get an immediate binky for a little strawberry jam. She also loves Quaker Oats.

Posted By xliddobunnyx on 04/06/2007 12:10 AMreally? i remember reading the bunny diet site (i think they have a link here) that says cheerios are better for a young bunny than introducing it to fresh greens too soon. because well when i got them they were 9 weeks old, now they are about 10 weeks old (12 weeks is when u should start introducing them to fresh greens a bit at a time) and they recommended plain cheerios (same case with some hamsters) am i truly wrong? i don't want them to be introduced to greens too soon. i tried a week ago but they did not do so well with it. so i took it away. i do not want to give my bun something bad for them. however, it is doing well with them. the grape looking poo is close to none. giving them cheerios is helping me with training them as well. they are less scared when i pick them up to move them or clean the occasional crust on their eyes, brushing them or when i was clipping their nails. =)

please let me know so i can change their diet. =)

Fujoe is right about the cheerios. And you are also right about waiting to introduce greens until 12 weeks.

Here is an excerpt from a House Rabbit Society article that mentions to be careful feeding Cheerios:

"Do not feed grains such as oats, corn, wheat, crackers, Cheerios, bread, crackers, pasta, etc. There is research to suggest that high starch and low fiber diets may be two of the contributing factors to often fatal cases of enterotoxemia. Enterotoxemia can be caused by changes in cecal pH resulting in the overgrowth of certain bacteria that produce dangerous iota toxins that when absorbed into the body ultimately lead to death. I know the bunnies love this stuff and in small amounts, and in adult rabbits it wouldn't normally be a problem, but often clients overdo and it may result in serious GIT disease." SOURCE: http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-...ology.html

So, if you are using them for training, you may need to be very careful about how much they are actually getting.

A better treat might be an alfalfa cube or you could cut the cubes to smaller bits, or use their own alfalfa pellets to train during the time when you think they would be the most hungry.

Out of curiosity, how is training going? What are you actually doing and how quickly are they catching on. I know baby bunnies can be much harder to train, but it looks like you are having some positive results, so share the details!

my name is Carolyn and my precious babies are 2 holland lops named Mochi and Emo and a uhh uhh not sure what he is.... but his name is Moogle

LucyChicago, IL

379 posts

4/11/2007 8:55 PM

no, they cannot. cereal is a type of bread.

LillyBearChicago, IL

231 posts

4/14/2007 9:36 AM

I gave my bun ONE chocolate covered raisin once.. and one mini frosted wheat piece of cereal.. she flipped over it and looved it and was digging in the bags to try to get more!! however, those are rare rare treats.. because shes only gotten one of each in her lifetime.. the rest is fruits + yogurt drops.. for treats..

Cookie if you go to the LINKS heading at the top there are websites that can answer most of your questions. Per the house rabbit society website(http://www.rabbit.org/care/fruits.html) this is their fruit list:

Sugary fruits such as bananas and grapes should be used only sparingly, as occasional treats. Bunnies have a sweet tooth and if left to their own devices will devour sugary foods to the exclusion of healthful ones.

No chocolate and you also do have to becareful even with dried fruit - very very tiny bits as as the sugar (even though natural from the fruit) is highly concentrated and becomes too high in calories and carbs.

x liddo bunny xFullerton, California

315 posts

4/15/2007 7:02 PM

i know they they love cheerios but even if they do love them, they can be bad for them which is a good reason not to give it to them. its like giving candy to a child or anyother kind of junk food.

my name is Carolyn and my precious babies are 2 holland lops named Mochi and Emo and a uhh uhh not sure what he is.... but his name is Moogle

cookie627Naperville, IL

395 posts

4/16/2007 3:04 PM

oh.....ok

My adorable babyCookie 1 year old

GraveheartedCampbell, CA

2442 posts

4/16/2007 3:07 PM

Many rabbits have a sweet tooth, but sweetness means a high content of sugars. Excessive sugar is converted to fat, or will pass into the cecum where the bacteria will use it for energy and then rapidly overgrow, possibly leading to bacterial imbalance and gi stasis, which is very serious. The same can occur after feeding too much fruit. Avoid feeding your rabbit simple sugars and instead stick with nutritious treats such as vegetables and herbs; save the sweets for an occasional raisin or banana snack.

couldnt have explained it any better. ^ ^ too bad my mom tried to bribe my mochi and emo with cheerios today. not good. but they didnt take it. for some reason they dont like her much. =P but they seem interested in my mellow dad that sits by them and watches tv all the time. hahahaha

my name is Carolyn and my precious babies are 2 holland lops named Mochi and Emo and a uhh uhh not sure what he is.... but his name is Moogle

LillyBearChicago, IL

231 posts

4/16/2007 7:32 PM

oh geeze im never giving her chocolate again!! eep. before I read this I gave her another one.. she just loves them so much.. then I came on here and read this and omg i watched her like a hawk the rest of the night. shes fine though